Category — Advocacy

Please take action now to stop two bills HB 2163 and HB 2167 introduced into the House to limit the practice of Certified Professional Midwives.  These bills have been introduced by Delegate Matthew Lohr- Harrisonburg. 

URGENT: Please send him an email TODAY telling him that you would like him to pull these bills from the docket and to work to help increase access to midwives, rather than restrict it.  You can also call his office: (804) 698-1026.

NEXT: Contact your legislators and tell them that you oppose HB 2163 and HB 2167.  You can visit the VA Birth PAC to find out who your legislators are and register to receive updates on this important issue.

STILL MORE: Contact everyone you know who lives in the Harrisonburg area.  Ask them to contact Del Lohr TODAY to express their concerns about these bills.  He filed these bills for a single constituent, he needs to hear from 50 who oppose them.

STAY TUNED:  We will be sending updates through all available channels.  If you are not registered with the VA BirthPAC…please do so NOW!  We need all of our voices united!!!!!

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This image by Susan Tibbles accompanied Jennifer Block’s Op-Ed about midwives.

On Christmas Eve, Pushed author Jennifer Block opined in the LA Times that homebirth and Certified Professional Midwives must be key elements of Obama’s healthcare reform strategy.  Read the article or more cool stuff on Jennifer’s blog, PushedBirth.

She highlights some pretty startling facts: Not only is childbirth the most common reason for a hospital stay — more than 4 million American women give birth each year — it costs the country far more than any other health condition. Six of the 15 most frequent hospital procedures billed to private insurers and Medicaid are maternity-related. The nation’s maternity bill totaled $86 billion in 2006, nearly half of which was picked up by taxpayers. 

Anyone know the average cost of a birth in Charlottesville?

I sat down this evening with a cup of tea to read all about the new publication Evidence-Based Maternity Care by Childbirth Connections, The Reforming States Group, and The Milbank Memorial Fund. [Read more →]

I gave the following speech at this morning’s
meeting of the Virginia Board of Medicine. [Read more →]

After accepting the Birth Matters Virginia award in Richmond, VA on
Sunday, August 10, 2008, I gave the following acceptance speech.

Thank you so much for this recognition and for the opportunity to come together to celebrate our passions for safe and satisfying birth for mothers and babies. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to stand up on a soap box for five minutes and preach to the choir…two of my most guilty pleasures. [Read more →]